He took a chance on himself, on his ability to prove himself worthy of being a head coach. He took a chance on his alma mater reaching out and inviting him back if or when the time was right.

Whitting and the University of Houston mutually agreed Friday that the time was right. Seven summers after his departure, Whitting became the eighth head baseball coach in school history. Athletic director Mack Rhoades on Friday morning finalized an agreement with Whitting to replace Rayner Noble, a former Cougars star who had presided over the program the past 16 seasons.

One person familiar with the terms of the agreement said UH made a five-year commitment to pay Whitting approximately $150,000 per year. Whitting, 38, had been the associate head coach for the TCU Horned Frogs, who are coming off a 54-14 season and their first appearance at the College World Series. In seven seasons at TCU, Whitting helped the school to a 305-134 record and seven NCAA tournament appearances.

“The reason I left the University of Houston seven years ago was to better prepare myself to be the head baseball coach at the University of Houston,” Whitting said. “Other than the birth of my son (Matthew), this is absolutely the biggest day in my life.”

‘A program-builder’

TCU head coach Jim Schlossnagle gives Whitting much of the credit for assembling this year’s team, which had 14 players from the Houston area. One of Whitting’s 2005 signees, pitcher Lance Broadway of Grand Prairie High, was the first first-round draft choice in TCU history. Lefthander Matt Purke of Klein went 14th overall in the 2009 draft but ended up at TCU, where he went 16-0 this season.

“There are numerous reasons why (the choice was) Todd Whitting,” Rhoades said. “He’s a program-builder. When he was with us here at the University of Houston, we had great, great success. Then you look at what he’s done at TCU. He played a significant, significant role in their achievements while he was there.”

Noble, the winningest baseball coach in UH history (551-420), experienced his greatest success when Whitting was an assistant. Whitting helped UH to a 305-195 record (.610) and six NCAA appearances from 1996-2003. In three of Whitting’s final four seasons, UH advanced to an NCAA super regional. UH is coming off back-to-back losing seasons (27-31 and 25-32) for the first time since 1974-1975.

“I couldn’t be happier for Todd,” Schlossnagle said. “No disrespect to anybody else, but I thought all along he was the best candidate. The Houston baseball program just did a 180 and is going in the right direction.”

Whitting has been a part of 12 consecutive teams that reached the NCAAs. His combined record as an assistant at UH and TCU is 610-329 (.630), with 13 NCAA appearances in 15 seasons. Whitting lettered in baseball three times at UH, receiving a degree in kinesiology in 1995.

“Professionally, the job I’m looking to take is one where the expectations are high, which they are at the University of Houston, and where I can win a national championship,” Whitting said. “You can compete and go to Omaha. We’ve shown we can do that in the past. The accomplishments of this program are going to be our floor. They’re not going to be our ceiling. The ceiling is very high at this place.”

Whitting helped lay the groundwork for three consecutive top-11 finishes in the polls at TCU, landing three recruiting classes ranked among Baseball America’s Top 10. While at UH, Whitting put together a 2000 signing class that was ranked No. 13 in the nation. One of his last signees at UH was pitcher Brad Lincoln, the 2006 National Player of the Year and a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Lincoln hails the hiring of Whitting as “something I think will turn around the program.”

Supporters aplenty

“He’s a player’s coach,” Lincoln said. “He relates very well to his players. His recruiting skills are some of the tops of the country. I’ve seen him pull players who have committed to Texas and (Texas) A&M and places like that and get him to come where he is.”

Rhoades said he canvassed “a ton of people” during the search — scouts, high school coaches, select-team coaches, former players, donors, community leaders. A theme emerged, Rhoades said, from all the background work: “There wasn’t one person who didn’t say great things about Todd Whitting.”

“This is where I want to be,” Whitting said. “This is my ultimate dream job. I’ve had opportunities to leave TCU. I had two goals. No. 1, get TCU to Omaha. No. 2, get Todd Whitting back to the University of Houston.”